Minn. GOP lawmaker, Garafalo, who was on fence a no on gay marriage

The fifth-term lawmaker says he has reservations about the adequacy of religious protections in the gay marriage bill.

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By Associated Press

Crookston Times - Crookston, MN

By Associated Press

Posted May. 8, 2013 at 8:00 PM

By Associated Press
Posted May. 8, 2013 at 8:00 PM

St. Paul, Minn.

A Republican legislator who was weighing his vote on a gay marriage bill says he will oppose it during Thursday's Minnesota House vote.

Farmington Rep. Pat Garofalo told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he reached the decision the night before. The fifth-term lawmaker says he has reservations about the adequacy of religious protections in the gay marriage bill. He expects the measure will become law regardless of his vote.

Garofalo says he favors affording more legal rights to same-sex couples through civil unions. An amendment to substitute civil unions for marriage will be offered Thursday, but faces long odds.

Endorsing gay marriage would have been a reversal for Garofalo, who voted in 2011 to advance a proposed same-sex marriage constitutional ban to the statewide ballot. It failed last November.